Sneak Peeks
by Arashi Uzumaki-Namikaze
Summary: Snippets of different stories that come to me as I write. Scenes exist here that will be expanded upon and used in later stories, or up and coming stories, when I finally get around to writing them. Will later be posted in the crossover section once I get my MCU stories up and running.
1. Chapter 1: Rising

**A/N: Don't own. These are snippets of different stories that I just happen to come up with. I would put more fandoms on here, but they won't fit!**

 **Daughter of Time:**

 **Spoiler Alert: Set during Day of the Doctor (50th Anniversary Special) near the end. Spoilers for the goal of the episode, so if you're worried about spoilers then avoid reading this chapter.**

"Of course," she heard him mutter, staring at his hands, the backs of which had started to shimmer gold. "Wearing a bit thin, are we?" he raised his head, giving her a weary smile "I suppose I should have expected this."

She nodded, smiling even if her heart wasn't in it. She knew what was coming. They both did. And even after all these times, it still hurt to watch him do this.

The Doctor chuckled "I suppose it always had to end this way…still, I wish I had met you in this life, my dear. Met you properly." He didn't move to step towards her, but his eyes were soft, and he was smiling "You really are quite extraordinary."

Her cheeks caught fire in an instant, her heart pounding faster as she ducked her head for a second to hide it. A long curtain of dark red hair fell in front of her face, hiding most of her expression from sight. Even after… _everything_ , he still thought of her as extraordinary.

After learning what she was, and why she was born, he still called her extraordinary. She wasn't, but there was no argument she could make that would make him see otherwise. Her Doctor was too stubborn for that.

And now he was dying again; his bodies never lasted, but this time it was different, because he had met his future regenerations. She had only just gained his full trust, and he was going to forget all about what she did to keep him alive.

"I don't know how you can say that," she didn't quite know what she was, but she knew she would, someday. "I'm not-I might be powerful, but I'm not extraordinary. I'm no Doctor."

The Doctor chuckled "And yet it was _you_ that reminded me what it meant to be a doctor in the end," he said, and she swallowed, trying to smile at him. He was dying, and she could feel that this version of her wouldn't last long, either. "You reminded me of my promise, and you saved our home. All of you."

Our home. She liked the sound of that. She'd left Gallifrey before she graduated, but she was still one of them. And she hadn't been the _only_ one saving their home-the Doctor had worked with her to do it.

"It wasn't just me," she replied, smiling more sadly now, feeling her power beginning to drain away again. She was going to wake, and this time, she wouldn't be able to come back; she could feel it. "You had a big hand in this, you know. My Doctor," she stepped forward, heedless of the regeneration energy coming off of his hands and face.

Both of them knew it couldn't hurt her, so even though he took a reflexive step back, she kept walking forward. She felt herself start to fade and fought it, struggling to stay here, to _stay_ with him until he regenerated.

Switching to the language (of a sort) she shared with the TARDIS, she tried to impress on the ship that she needed to stay, at least until the Doctor regenerated. It was communication entirely in images and feelings, but it was much easier than communicating with words.

The TARDIS hummed sadly, impressing an image of the swirling Vortex and an odd, shifting-changing feeling she'd come to interpret as the TARDIS's interpretation of fickle. The feeling of heat surrounded her briefly, and then vanished, and she felt Time slow around them.

She had what time she could, then, before this body faded, like all the others. Hopefully it would be enough.

The Doctor tried to stop her "You shouldn't. We don't know when it will start to hurt."

"You don't," she corrected, reaching up to touch his flaming-hot cheek through the energy, which spread around her arm and hand with a pleasant, soft warmth. "I do. You won't hurt me, Doctor. Not like this."

The Doctor staggered, gasping "Won't be long now," he said, wincing as his hands started to turn to fire "You should-stand back…" he coughed "I hope the ears are less conspicuous this time."

Bowing her head slightly, she smiled, knowing that wasn't the case, and took a step back from the Doctor, never taking her eyes off him. He managed a yell as the energy enveloped him, throwing back his chest as his body caught fire beneath his clothes, a blast of energy washing through and around her, deflected quite easily by the energy she possessed. Light caught his face, pulling and tearing and _changing_ until an entirely new, taller man stood before her.

\


	2. Chapter 2: Moonlit Fox

**A/N: Hey! I know, I know, another update and another story. I promise to upload the same document to AO3 that I upload here. I just went on a 10 day vacation to Hawaii, and in the process this universe was born from a failed plot bunny. So I couldn't sleep on the plane flight there (I did try) and only a little on the flight back, and the week before I just let myself go worldbuild EVERYTHING into this universe.**

 **This is a scene from chapter one. No spoilers present unless you don't follow the plot line of** ** _Naruto,_** **but even so the only 'spoiler' you're getting is actually included in the original story.**

 _ **Update: This chapter was originally uploaded in the wrong format, so was illegible. As I never double-check the format, I had to find out earlier today and fix it once I had internet.**_

Naruto smirked at her, sealing the Scroll of Seals into a seal on his belt. "Shall we?" he asked, nodding in the direction of the Forest of Death.

"I think we very much shall," she said, applying just enough chakra to her feet to avoid leaving footprints on the ground. "Race you to our favorite clearing!"

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that," Naruto laughed, as he ran after her, keeping pace with Usagi as they raced for the Forest of Death by treetop. "I'll catch you!"

"Gotta run for it then, and without jutsu!" shot back Usagi as she shot through the treetops.

They were about as fast as each other, but if she was right about his current speed, he'd catch her easily. It was only once they were in the Forest of Death that Usagi started to laugh too, exhaling as much as she could while she ran. Naruto was gaining on her. She could feel him getting closer and closer, and Usagi poured on the speed, doing her best not to channel chakra to her legs. That would be cheating.

They reached the clearing at almost exactly the same time and Usagi touched the tree first. It was only by a few millimeters, though, so his fingers brushed against hers, and for a moment they stood there in silence.

Then he yelled "Gotcha!" and tackled her, causing her to squeal in surprise and then break out laughing as she turned, making it so both of them took the fall.

They wrestled with each other on the ground, squirming around until she got her legs wrapped around his torso and managed to flip him over her head onto the ground. This let her detach her mask so it didn't keep hitting her face. The minute she sealed it away Naruto flipped her over with a playful growl and a lunge, wrestling her backwards towards the tree. She tried to flip him again, but he pinned her arms to her sides. She flipped them both forwards, landing on him-if not for the quick Kawarimi (Replacement) he used to get out of the way.

This left her to fall on a log. She moved aside, rolling, but Naruto was behind her almost instantly, and she struck backwards to try and stop him from flipping her again. His legs tensed and she could feel him trying to use chakra to stick to the floor, which succeeded until she kicked at his feet, sending both of them to the ground again.

Then they were back to wrestling.

Usually, they didn't use jutsu while wrestling, but Kawarimi sometimes snuck in anyway. Neither of them wanted to really hurt each other, even if they could survive it. Usagi yelped as Naruto flipped her over, barely managing to flip him too, only for him to kick upwards as he flipped, knocking her over so she landed with him on top of her. He was not two inches from her face, now, and she tried to shove him off, but he was too strong.

"My win, Usagi," he said, his breath warm on her face through his mask, and a smile visible through the dark fabric.

Usagi grinned, knowing she couldn't beat him "Oh, really?" she bucked, trying to get him off her, and Naruto reached down with one gloved finger, stroking his finger along one of her sensitive sides. "Uncle!" she cried, before he started tickling her, because she was really ticklish there. "Uncle. Seriously, uncle!" laughed Usagi as he tickled her anyway, making her squirm and laugh in his grip.  
Naruto stopped, chuckling, and offered her a hand up. When she took his hand, warmth-affection-trust-happiness washed through her and her grin brightened as she stood up, shoving her hood (already halfway off) off of her hair. With a few more strokes she managed to brush away the leaves and twigs that had been caught in her hair, and Naruto followed suit, adding a little water manipulation to soak and quickly dry his hair, rinsing it fully.

"Me too, please," requested Usagi, and he soaked her hair, letting her rinse the dirt out of it before he used a bit of wind manipulation to dry it. "Thanks."

"No problem," Naruto unsealed the Scroll of Seals "So are we even?"

"Yeah, I think that makes us even," Usagi said, thinking back to their last few wrestling matches. "I won the last one, which put me one up. And did you channel chakra to your legs today?"

Naruto blinked "No," he said, handing over the scroll "Why do you ask, Usagi?"

"You were able to catch me today," Usagi said, "and I was running at full speed. I assume you were, too, so that means you've gotten faster or you were subconsciously channeling chakra to your legs."

 **And that's a wrap! Let me know if you want to see more of this universe!**

 **I can't find another place to put this: I'm over on AO3 under the name Little_Vesuvius and I'm cross-posting these stories. I also have a goal of which stories I am going to start (and continue) through the end of 2015 posted on my profile, plus updates as to the status of each chapter. I really wish AO3 did this; I can't find how to do it if they do.**

 _ **Update: now valid through the end of 2016. This schedule will be updated, but please, be patient-I'm a senior in a four-year college going for a degree in Earth sciences which, contrary to popular opinion, DOES contain a lot of hard science.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Promise

**A/N: This AU hit me back in December, but I decided you guys needed to see some of it to decide if it will ever be finished. It's the only thing I have inspiration for right now. I polished this in between working on a good long piece of homework for my programming class.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

 **Summary:** **This is from an AU-verse that I started writing back in December, but never had the willpower to finish. I'm working on it but the first story in this universe (the 'Promise' verse) is extremely long and I"m still not to the climax of the story because I kept re-editing it. It was my first real delve into Supernatural and what the characters had to be thinking and my first attempt at writing episodically, which I'm still working on.**

 **The premise: In an AU of 5x18, Dean says yes to Michael. In desperation, Sam says yes to Lucifer to get his brother back. Cas promised Dean something that formed an Oath-Bond between them-a Bond Michael breaks. God intervenes, and throws Castiel back in time, allowing him to keep his promise-but with a twist. I thought adding a girl to the team would throw them off, but adding a girl Cas to the team might not as Cas is already kind of in the team.**

 **Tags: Swearing, mentions of violence, mistrust between two friends, SPOILERS FOR SEASON FIVE (if the summary wasn't enough for you), healing angel, temporarily de-winged angel, Hell being Hell, pre-relationship Destiel, awkward Cas, flirty Dean, parental Bobby, paranoid Dean.**

 **Also, featuring Castiel as a priest (she's been ordained, not sure when that happened but it did).**

 **My Supernatural OTP is Destiel, but I like a range of pairings for Sam, so Sam's future partner is up in the air. This fic's (the bigger one) focus is Dean/Cas, and so is the next fic in the series. This takes place PRE-SEASON ONE (the scene that you're about to see) between Dean and a time-traveling Castiel who's spent roughly a year and a half in the past trying to change things and adjusting to being a woman.**

 **Destiel. Eventually. I am a Destiel shipper, but come on, Cas is an angel and going to be THE most awkward angel in love you have EVER met.**

Dean had gotten out of the morgue as soon as he could, but tried not to look like he was running out of there. Castiel probably hadn't been fooled, but he really needed to talk to Bobby. It was only after he drove a few streets over and made sure he wasn't being followed that he pulled over, calling Bobby.

He had to know who and what this Castiel was.

" _Whaddaya want?"_ Bobby answered gruffly, _"If this is about a case ya want me ta take, then you're fresh outta luck-"_ he started.

Dean smiled, relaxing a little at the familiar tone. He really liked talking to Bobby, even if it meant putting up with his irritability. It was almost endearing, the way he changed his tune every time one of the Winchesters was on the phone.

"Bobby, it's me, Dean," said Dean, cutting over him.

Bobby sighed _"Yeah, I got that, idjit. What's wrong now?"_

"There's someone in town I don't recognize, smarter than most FBI agents and using the codename MacGyver," said Dean. "I was wondering if she was a hunter."

" _She?"_ Bobby sounded surprised. _"Who's this she?"_

Dean cleared his throat "Really dark brown hair, maybe black now that I think about it. Nice body, hides it by wearin' a man's suit and tan trench coat, with a sex voice."

" _Sex voice?"_ Bobby sounded like he was frowning _"Idjit, think with the upstairs brain. This might be a supernatural threat, though she sounds pretty darn familiar."_

Dean grimaced "I am. Her voice is way deeper than it should be, Bobby but it's like-throaty, or something. Almost hypnotic. I was really hoping she wasn't just some creature. Blue eyes, about 5'10", and-" he was cut off.

" _Let me guess, and goes by the name Cassidy while on a case?"_ Sounded like Bobby knew her. _"Or did she tell you her name was Castiel?"_

He did. "How do you know her?" Dean asked, heart jumping into his throat "Is she another hunter, Bobby?"

Please, God, let her be a hunter. Maybe a weird one.

" _Of course she's a hunter, ya idjit!"_ barked Bobby, and Dean let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. _"Showed up on my doorstep about six months ago, lookin' like she'd walked through a friggin' minefield. She specializes in huntin' demons, and one of them got the drop on her. Stronger than any psychic I've ever seen, too."_

Psychic? How could you have a _psychic_ hunter?

"Like the whole summoning up shit, could be a witch psychic?" Dean asked warily.

" _No, idjit,"_ Bobby said, sounding like he was rolling his eyes. _"She's got some kinda weird purification powers I ain't seen before. I saw one of those low-level demons try to possess her when she was helpin' me ward the place against more types of 'em, and then it started shriekin'. Ran like hell into a Devil's Trap just to get away from her and kept screamin' about Bright Ones, whatever the hell those are. She can't be possessed, and witch magic has_ _no_ _effect on her. Went through the back channels to check her out; she's been hunting for a little while, but demons are damn_ _terrified_ _when they hear Castiel Novak's in the area."_

"Her name's Novak?" weird name for a hunter, but Dean wasn't one to judge. Castiel Novak, huh? "How old is she?"

" _I think she's only a year older than you, but she didn't seem ta know for sure. She spent some time in a mental hospital recently, somethin' about her family getting killed. Whoever they were, the things that took out her family, they were damn powerful, 'cause she learned from her dad,"_ Bobby said.

A hunter from a family of hunters? Interesting. He'd never heard of whole families taking up hunting aside from his, since the kids usually lost whatever childhood they had, but whoever Cas' family used to be they were strong enough to produce a hunter like her. And they must've been real powerful to put out someone like her.

Not to mention really hot.

Dean smirked "Well, she's in town with me-you're sure she's a hunter?"

" _What kinda stupid question is that? I know no witch that gets their power by purifyin' anyone or anythin', and I'm pretty damn sure she was ordained at some point,"_ said Bobby. _"If she's in town, she'll keep your ass outta the fire. But yeah, she's workin' with ya, idjit. Just make sure whatever it is yer huntin' doesn't get her scent or it'll be outta there like a bat outta hell."_

Ordained. That was good enough for him; if she was pure enough that she was ordained as a priest, and was able to carry out exorcisms like that, she had divine power. He'd never really understood how that worked, but ordained priests were really good at exorcisms and purifying people, and usually saw monsters, demons, and spirits as what they really were.

"I don't know about that," said Dean, grimacing. "She seemed pretty freaked at the symbols she was finding."

Symbols he'd copied, but hadn't found anything on.

" _Send me the stuff then, pictures or somethin'-I gotta go, Dean. Someone's calling,"_ said Bobby apologetically. _"And trust me-if she's in town, somethin' nasty's bound ta be happenin'. Might even help ya find Yellow-Eyes."_

"Okay, Bobby," said Dean, filing away that information so he could tell his dad. John hadn't contacted him since his last hunt, but the man would probably feel better knowing Dean had a potential lead. "Thanks. Talk to ya later."

He hung up the phone, wondering who could be calling Bobby-and then almost hit his head against the steering wheel. Castiel was, probably checking that he was a hunter. He'd felt her watching him the whole time they were in the morgue together.

Huh. Well, maybe he had a partner after all, even if he wanted to hunt on his own. Dean wasn't stupid enough to try and take this hunt on along if he could help it. If it was a witch coven, then having anyone along would be _really_ useful, especially someone with an immunity to hex bags like Castiel had. He really had to talk to her though-what kind of hunter made demons run shrieking in fear when they heard her name?

What kinda hunter made them shriek and run into a Devil's Trap? There was way more goin' on here than he knew or that Bobby knew, and he wanted to know more.

For now, he knew didn't need to go re-interview Jenny's family if Cas had already done that. It'd be redundant information and he hated dealing with the victim's families-it was the hardest part of every case.

Dean pulled back out onto the road and headed for the nearest coffee shop. He needed coffee if he was gonna have to deal with some other hunter muscling in on his hunt.

Even if Cas was helpful, that didn't mean much in the long run. Not until he knew he could trust her.

The minute he'd left her alone, Castiel was out of the morgue as fast as she dared to go. At a walk, so the morgue attendants didn't think something had gone wrong. She needed to hit the library but first, she owed Bobby a call. She drove over to the library mechanically, stopping by the local Starbucks to pick up a nonfat chai latte to help her focus. It was only once she pulled into the library's parking lot did she even start sipping it, ignoring that it was too hot, as temperatures didn't bother her even in her present weakened state.

She pulled out and opened her cell phone, a useful flip-phone that kept a charge much longer than it should have so long as it was in her pocket.

It was one of the few things that had been given to her when she woke up in the mental hospital, in perfect health and in her own body. Her Father wanted her to have the tools to help, and she had thanked Him for providing it for her.

Castiel pulled up Bobby's number, debating with herself. She hadn't been expecting Dean to show up and had fallen into old habits, feeling that weird, tingling warmth around younger Dean just as she had older Dean. She _missed_ the feel of his soul against hers, even if this younger Dean was so much more innocent and so much less battered and torn apart. He hadn't been marked yet by Hell, but things didn't always go according to plan and he could still end up there.

Dean showing up had _not_ been part of her plans. Of any of them. She'd wanted to run into John Winchester first, or Sam, but not Dean. Not the man who she would follow into the very depths of Purgatory and back out again, the man she had given up everything and more for because it was _Dean_.

There was something about Dean that just made her want to push at him, to challenge him and to make him better, and she wasn't ready to mar Dean's innocence with her knowledge. Not yet. Not to mention being around him made it _difficult_ to focus, because he was hers to guide and protect, and while recovering that was insanely difficult.

But the world wasn't going to be that kind, and if her suspicions were right, then Dean was about to get a crash course on just what he was missing at this age. Demons were everywhere; he just wasn't paranoid enough to notice them yet and keep an eye out for them. She couldn't protect him forever, and this was only a year before he would have to mature anyway, because of John Winchester's death.

Cas sighed. She had been given this chance, this _gift_ for a reason. She had not thought she would affect the timeline this much, but she was keeping people alive wherever she could because her timeline had a horrible ending. The problem was keeping up with Hell's and Heaven's agendas.

She dialed Bobby's number, because the old hunter always had good advice, even if he didn't quite understand her situation. And because she needed to warn every hunter in the world if this turned sour and the apocalypse started early.

It rang several times before Bobby picked up _"Yeah?"_

"Bobby," said Castiel, relieved. She activated the sound-canceling wards on the car with a very low Enochian word. "I have discovered something dangerous."

" _Yeah, I figured as much. Ya know, you could'a_ _told_ _that idjit you were a hunter,"_ she had no doubt who he was talking about, grimacing. _"Would'a saved me the trouble of reassuring him."_

Cas cleared her throat "You know he wouldn't have trusted me," she said, trying to lighten her voice a little so it wasn't so husky. She'd forgotten, in the morgue, that women weren't supposed to sound like that. "Even if I had told him I was a hunter."

" _Ya can stop fixing yer voice, kid. Why'd you do it to begin with?"_ Bobby asked, changing the topic immediately.

Kid. He constantly called her that, never knowing the irony in his statement given how many millions of years old she really was, but she liked the nickname, so she never protested. To him, if she was human, she might as well _be_ a child.

Castiel sighed, letting her voice deepen again "Because it makes people uneasy and unsettled, and sometimes aroused to hear my voice. I find it tiresome to be looked at with suspicion everywhere I go or like I have been…what is the phrase?"

" _Havin' sex all night long?"_ Cas winced, and Bobby chuckled. _"Relax. Yer secret's safe with me. Just didn't know ya could do that."_

"I usually make a semi-conscious effort to raise my voice by an octave, so it is not usually noticeable," said Castiel. "Dean startled me enough that I forgot to do it when we first met." For the second time.

More like shocked her senseless, but that was because he'd never told her about this hunt. Which meant her presence her was screwing with the timeline. She was fairly certain the hunt hadn't existed last time around.

" _Why're ya callin', Cas?"_ Bobby asked. _"I know ya get weird preconceptions of what's gonna happen-"_

"No, that's not why I'm calling," said Cas immediately. "But something very, very dangerous _is_ happening in this town. I have only seen this type of death one time before-every victim was killed by some form of plant-based toxin, and I _pray_ that I am wrong, but I'm…probably right."

" _Do you need backup?"_ Bobby asked, his voice suddenly much graver. _"What's goin' on, Cas?"_

"How well-warded is your house, and how many hunters can you get down here if we fail?" Castiel asked, not bothering to hide the truth. "Because if this fails, we need at least two teams of four to go after this thing."

" _My house is as well-warded against demons as ya could make it. You should know-you chewed my ass out over the lack of a demon-possessin' tattoo, for Christ's sake,"_ Bobby retorted. That was one experience Cas never wanted him to have, _ever_ agan. _"Who or what is it?"_

Cas cleared her throat "Paimon. There aren't many records of- _her,_ as the demon used to be called," she continued, "The coven here is trying to raise Paimon. The deaths, the pattern, and the killing of one of their own are all too neat for it to be anything else."

Bobby swore in three languages for a good minute, leaving Cas to write down the connections she'd found in her journal. This too had been a gift from her Father, a self-replenishing book with an ever-increasing number of pages that produced a minor illusion to look as if it only had maybe four hundred pages. It was very light, as well, and very well-warded to keep prying eyes from looking into it without her permission. To someone she trusted, it would only show the hunts she'd taken after the time travel had been done.

It was a near-exact copy of the Winchesters' notebook from the future, at least in terms of looks, and had notes of every single hunt the Winchesters had ever done in the first part of the book. It even included the hunt she'd died on and its conclusion, and her current, very long-term mission, written in an encoded version of Quenya, a fictional language she liked the sound of. The book also included all of _her_ hunts since she had come back to this timeline, and all of the things she'd done to keep the Winchesters and their family safe.

" _What do ya need to keep this thing from risin'?"_ asked Bobby, drawing Cas' attention again. _"What'll happen if it does?"_

"I need you to get all of the hunters in Wyoming on standby for a potential uprising of a Duke of Hell, with all of the powers that demon commands, and that includes immunity to Devil's Traps," said Cas, pausing. "And I need you to be sure you are prepared for the Raising of the Witnesses. Paimon's agenda runs extremely close to Hell's."

There was no time to lie to Bobby about the potential dangers.

" _Rising of the-wait, what the hell? That's from Revelations, ain't it?"_

Castiel's voice hardened "If this fails, Paimon will begin the slow takeover of the world. It may not come to that, but warn the hunters if, after two days have passed, you do not hear from either Dean or me about the success of this hunt or lack thereof. Prepare for the worst. And yes, it is from Revelations, but I have…seen it happening. What happens after is much worse if we do not stop it."

It was the closest to lying she could come, when talking about something that serious. This could kill _everyone_ in the vicinity, and it was a little frustrating for her to hear Bobby taking it with a grain of salt.

Still, he trusted her 'visions,' even if that wasn't what they really were.

" _You got yerself a deal. One o' these days ya need to sit down with me and go over just what ya know about Revelations, and why,"_ Bobby said gruffly, but not without warmth in his voice. _"I know yer worried about us. I'll call the hunters, and I'll call up Ellen; tell 'em ta get to ground if ya fail. Anything else ya need, like maybe more backup?"_

Cas almost reflexively shook her head, then remembered he couldn't see it over the phone. "No. Too many hunters will attract a lot of attention and alert the witches. The last thing we need right now is for them to summon the demon early. Part of the reason I need only two people on this case is because they think they can take us out. They might even buy into my ruse that we're FBI agents." There was a snort. "But I doubt it. I have placed the strongest protection I know how to create on myself, and when I meet Dean again I will do the same for him. This demon will not rise without killing both of us."

" _I don't doubt it. Listen, Dean might ask ya about the Yellow-eyed demon. He called me earlier, askin' if you were a hunter, so he knows."_ Which only meant he knew her cover story. _"And with what ya told me, I figured you'd have heard of him."_

It was necessary. Now it was time to see if she could lie to him. Cas took a deep breath.

"I _have_ heard of that demon and its connection with the Winchesters. Is it going to affect whether he can do this case?" she asked.

" _No, but that boy can be a right idjit when it comes ta trustin' people, so he might not agree to work with you past this. I know you were doin' somethin' in relation to a vision or somethin' of yours,"_ which, from a certain perspective, was true. _"Look, all I'm sayin' is that he didn't believe me when I told him you could purify things and couldn't be possessed. You might have to prove it."_

Cas grimaced, "Brilliant. Thank you, Bobby. What would you suggest?"

Bobby snorted _"Hell if I know. Dean doesn't believe in anythin' he hasn't seen firsthand."_

Castiel sighed "I had assumed as much. He trusts what his senses give him first and what other people tell him second, is that it?" He had only really started believing in her after the hunt for Samhain, almost four and a half years into the future.

" _Yeah, pretty much. Listen, just be careful around him-he doesn't mean badly, but he usually makes some pretty stupid mistakes."_ She'd been around for most of the big ones, so she knew what he meant. _"You okay with workin' with him, even knowin' his Daddy's an obsessive nut?"_

"Yes," said Castiel, "I might work with him full-time after this, if I can convince him to take me along." There was a surprised pause from the other end of the phone. She elaborated "Dean and Sam were at the center of the last vision I had. I will help them find the," she broke off, biting her tongue against the curse that rose to her lips " _thing_ that killed their mother, if it comes to that. And I am very good at following people around until they start talking to me."

Bobby knew that just as well as she did, because it was how she'd gotten the old hunter to listen to her. She was very patient and very, very good at finding people.

" _Just don't get shot, kid,"_ Castiel smiled, _"I like ya and don't want ta see you gone just because you pissed off the wrong Winchester."_

"I will be careful, Bobby," she said, feeling the insides of her chest warm near her still-battered Grace. "I promise."

" _Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it,"_ said Bobby, before hanging up.

Castiel smiled, closing her phone and getting out of the car to go into the library, deactivating her wards with a slight gasp of pain. It was time to hunt a fallen angel down before it rose. Her wings, tattered and broken as they were, throbbed in reminder, nearly driving the smile from her face as she walked.

She gritted her teeth, determination letting her ignore the pain for now. She had work to do, and no demon was going to keep her from saving the people she loved. Even if she was never going to heal at this rate to begin with, she had to try.

 **So, this fic was just an experiment when I started with it, but it became my fun little project and then it turned into something massive after I read a story here on , "It's All in the Details," by Colleen (which is really good, and actually got me to finish up to partway through Season Six of Supernatural). The full story for this universe of mine won't be started until sometime in Jan/Feb, unless my updating schedule changes, as it might in the coming weeks.**

 **I'm working on the other Sneak Peek, but this is the one that flowed better today. This was written in 15min increments around doing my homework, but the other one is...harder to do that with. Note that that one occurs within Yu-Gi-Oh! Season Zero but prior knowledge of Season Zero is not needed to understand what is happening.**


	4. Chapter 4: Starcry (sequel to Sundance)

**Summary: This has taken me a long time to get to-sorry about that! This is set during Jak III, during the Arena fight that you have to do to get inducted into Spargus City. By this point in time, Jak and Lora have been working together for something like three years, and Jak is…not in the hole he was in Jak II. This takes place right after the two of them have been forced to kill all the other Elves in the arena.**

 **Pairing: Jak/Lora,** _ **established by now**_ **.**

Lora and Jak came to a stop as one, the last Elf falling off the platform into the lava that surrounded them. Lora flickered back into view, letting go of the Dark Eco that had let her vanish when she begun Channeling it, and turned to look at Jak. _That's it?_

Jak shrugged; _Yeah, looks like it._

Then Lora realized the crowd was still cheering, waving guns in the air. The ruler of Spargus, Damas, was still looking down at the two of them sternly, as if he expected them to fight.

 _Jak,_ signed Lora quickly, getting his attention. _They want us to fight._

Jak's expression went from relaxed to angry in an instant before his eyes flickered black _I won't. I'm not killing you. I'd rather die in the_ _desert_ _first. I…_

Lora smirked; _Sap. I think we're going to piss them off,_ she said with a few signs, lips twitching. _I couldn't kill you either. If they expect me to do_ _that_ _, I will gladly show them just why you don't fuck with my Mar._ Jak's ears turned faintly pink, but he smirked back, hiding it well.

As long as Spargus' citizens were actually reasonable, they had a chance of pulling this off without killing each other. That didn't mean that would happen; Lora had been around way too many crowds to expect them to act rationally. That meant they had to talk to the King, Damas, or they would both be killed for refusing to kill the other.

 _Whose turn is it?_ Jak asked silently, stepping closer to her with a slight smile on his face. _I think after dealing with the Council it's your turn._

 _And you did_ _such_ _a good job of that,_ Lora teased, _I might even make you diplomatic emissary to Haven City!_ Jak scowled at her and she smiled _I'm teasing. No one is making you go back there-and if they do, they'd better have a good reason for it!_

Jak was silent for a second and then his slight smile turned into a devious smirk; _I think we might piss them off if we do this, but I'm_ _done_ _with political shenanigans._

 _Pretty sure we already have Wastelander qualities in their eyes;_ said Lora. She hated killing other Elves, hated how-well, physically, how _easy_ it was for her to dirty her hands. _We proved ourselves. That's it. We don't have to kill each other just because of moronic tradition._

 _Then that's it,_ said Jak simply, smirking at her and winking in a way that sent a shiver down her spine. _I really do like watching you get so defensive. It's cute._

"Oh, would you two get a room already!?" shouted Daxter, effectively silencing the crowd and stopping both Elves in their tracks. "It was bad enough when it was only _Jak_ making yakkow eyes at Lora when she wasn't lookin'! Now that you two are together, I get no relief from the flirting!"

Dead silence fell as both Elves blushed a little, and Lora shifted positions, scanning for threats that might throw themselves at Jak's back. It didn't really matter, however; the whole crowd had gone silent, and now Lora was acutely aware of the way they were sizing each of them up. It was enough to make her Dark self shift uncomfortably beneath her skin, Dark Eco thrumming in her fingertips at the attention. This was _exactly_ why she hadn't broadcast anything to the arena when they'd first come in, together; they didn't want the attention.

At least Jak appeared to be dealing with this better. Otherwise she'd be shielding the crowd from his Dark side.

"You know, Dax, you _could_ just shut up," teased Jak, "like we always do when you're flirting with Tess."

That was just the way to shut Daxter up, given the way the Ottsel's cheeks seemed to be burning beneath his fur. "N-Now, you know mine and Tessie-baby's relationship is u-um, I-it's just d-different! And besides, you're not sitting on my shoulder watching the whole time, are ya?"

Lora shrugged; _he has a point_ , she signaled when Jak glanced back at her, doing her best to ignore the dead silence around them. All she could hear were heartbeats. _We can get away from them._

 _You want this one?_ Jak teased, jerking his head at Daxter. _I mean, you know how much Bell used to follow us around. And he_ _bet_ _on us.._

"No way buddy, I've got my own set of problems, remember?" laughed Lora, and Jak joined her, chuckling. "At least you have a semi-sensible best friend."

That was true enough. Aconite had a tendency to piss off the wrong people, get in the middle of a fight she couldn't win, and _then_ call for backup. At least Daxter had some common sense-Aconite just didn't care, not if she really believed in what she was fighting for. She'd nearly gotten killed Channeling not three weeks back, trying to figure out how Janos had raised the Workshop in the first place.

And everyone believed that _Lora_ was the crazy one. Ha! Without her around, Aconite wouldn't have a leash. Which was exactly what _both of them_ were hoping for, given how Veger treated her.

"Enough!" boomed Damas, before Jak could start outright flirting with her. Lora and Jak both tensed, reaching for weapons that weren't there after their exile from Haven "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded of both of them.

Jak and Lora looked at each other. Lora searched him, finding the traces of Dark Eco in his aura as easily as the bright flickering blue, lively green, fire-red and the orange-yellow colors that flared through his eyes. Jak wasn't in the mood for one of these things. And to be perfectly honest, neither was she, but she had more patience than he did.

Maybe it came from having to explain science over and over again to Aconite as a child.

She nodded. Jak did too, and Lora looked up, remembering what she'd learned of Damas from listening in on Ashelin's conversations with the man. Damas would not respond well to a plea, not if she wanted him to respect her, and he wouldn't respond well to her giving orders either. Lora knew men like Damas-she was in love with one of them.

Not rigid and unbending. Not exactly, but-close. No, Damas reminded her of an older, colder and harder version of Jak; of who Jak might have become without her, Daxter, Aconite, and Keira by his side. Someone who protected his people and guarded his heart as fiercely as he did his few friends; someone who trusted no one completely anymore, and someone that had been betrayed many times over, thus proving he was right not to trust anyone else.

He wouldn't respond to a plea, but he _would_ respond to a fellow warrior. Damas was the type to respect partnerships and long-term relationships, much like Jak, and she doubted he had a 'best friend' anymore. But he had once, and she could use that.

Lora straightened, making her choice as she met Damas' eyes "I spent _two years_ trying to get my best friend back from Baron Praxis. I'm not going to kill him just because someone orders me to, so we can enter a city. We'd rather go live in the desert first."

Damas stopped cold at the statement and Lora pressed on. "Jak and I have been best friends since our first adventure together; the same adventure that ended with us in Haven City, in the Baron's prison. To date, the only two people who haven't stopped believing in me completely, at least once, other than my father," Lora swallowed hard "Are Jak and Daxter."

It wasn't entirely the truth-Aconite had never lost faith in her, but Aconite was busy with Sig in Haven City. Besides, she was working the crowd-not telling the truth. And from the sounds of it, or looks, really, the crowd _was loving it_. Every eye was on the two of them-well, _three_ , as they stood together in the Arena, standing side-by-side with the people they refused to kill.

She had the feeling not many people refused Damas anything and lived. And Lora was counting on the shock to make him think.

Damas turned to Jak, about to ask, but Jak beat him to it "I think you might have heard about me," he said much more lightly than he felt, and Lora let her hand brush against his. "From Commander Ashelin and Aconite, your guard." Damas frowned, nodding, but didn't interrupt him. "Then you know everything you need to. Lora's my partner and the one who always has my back, even when I don't need it. Sometimes when I don't want it, as well," he added and she snorted.

"More like every time he ends up in over his head I'm there with a backup plan to save his ass," she narrowly dodged the jab to her side "Hey! What did I say about letting me handle this?" she smirked briefly, hands flashing; _good job._

"Your diplomacy needs work," Jak deadpanned, signaling back; _emotional plea? You're getting better at this._

Daxter agreed "You'll have a better time tryin' ta go tear down her dad's fortress than ya will makin' these two really hurt each other. They work as a team, or not at all. Even when Jakkie here goes all nuts, he won't hurt her-and she won't hurt him."

Damas did not appear displeased, and if Lora wasn't mistaken, their ploy had worked. It made them a good team in his eyes, which they _were_. It was all true-she'd just left out a few things, like the true _size_ of their team, and how many people they trusted in. And a team didn't kill each other.

If the only way into Spargus City was to prove they were the heart and soul of that team, they would do it. Even if it left a sour taste in Lora's mouth, she had no choice. Not if she wanted Jak, Daxter, and herself to be pardoned and accepted as Spargus' new citizens.

If Damas ever found out, they'd either be killed in a heartbeat, or he'd laugh about it. Knowing Jak, she couldn't say which, not if he found out what she'd done.

Pecker squawked "Aaack! I remember these two. Onin always used to say their auras were so well matched they were the perfect team. One makes up for the flaws of the other one."

Damas' frown didn't disappear, which didn't look good, but Lora waited all the same. She ignored the way Jak seemed to be staring directly at her, because the minute she engaged in an Aura Link with him, she wouldn't be able to break it without help, and it would ruin their negotiations. And he knew it, darn him.

Good-looking, lovable jerk that he was, Jak didn't even seem to notice.

"And they saved that other Wastelander," Pecker continued, meeting Lora's eyes and winking at her. "Sig, I think his name was? He still sparred with them, last time they were in Haven."

Damas' eyes met Lora's, and she could see his mind had been made up. And there was no fury, no mercy there; not in his eyes. Jak warily circled around to cover her weaker, right arm, half-prosthetic even now, and the two of them readied themselves for a fight. If Damas wanted them dead, he'd have to take them down together.

 **And CUT! I know this has been a long time in coming, and it's because I was having trouble finishing this scene. This particular scene was a problem because I couldn't figure out where to cut it.**

 **Also, let me know how you like Older Lora and Older Jak-I tried my best to make sure they were characterized right, but it was a really hard thing to do. Taking characters who are much older than the people I started to write originally is difficult.** **Jak and Lora are about 3 or 4 years older than in their first tale together, _Sundance,_ so I hope that some of that was reflected here. And yes-Lora is a total Slytherin at heart by now.**

 **Oh yeah-I'm still working on the Sakura sneak peek. Should be easy enough; not sure about the rest of my stories though since I'm working on so many at once.**


End file.
